Tuesday 21 October 2008 06.14 EDT
First published on Tuesday 21 October 2008 06.14 EDT

The decision to keep Raymond Domenech as France coach ended up as a minor footnote to the main talking-point on last week's news programmes and chat-shows: to boo or not to boo the national anthem. Nicolas Sarkozy's fantastically impractical solution to abandon any match minutes before kick-off if an anthem is jeered completely overshadowed the Domenech saga. But if the France coach can thank one man for saving his job, it wouldn't be the FA chief Jean-Pierre Escalettes, who had to meet Sarko at the Elysée Palace for a wrist-slap following the trouble against Tunisia, nor would it be Gerard Houllier, who reportedly stood up for Domenech after the failure at Euro 2008 before insisting he didn't want the job. No, the man Domenech owes it to is a 22-year-old midfielder who has spent the last two years in Italy, and who is doing a pretty bad job if he wants to stop being compared with Zinedine Zidane.

Yoann Gourcuff ran the show in his first France start last month – days after the team had lost 3-1 to Austria in World Cup qualifying – and set up the winner for Nicolas Anelka before hitting the bar in a 2-1 win over Serbia. When France were two down in Romania 10 days ago, it was Gourcuff who smashed in a 30-yarder that went in off the crossbar (enjoy the commentary!) to start the comeback in a 2-2 draw – and his goal was eerily similar to Zidane's debut strike against Czech Republic in 1994. Meanwhile in the Champions League, Gourcuff - on loan from Milan - put Bordeaux ahead against Roma before Henrique was sent off and the team lost 3-1.

Gourcuff was at it again this weekend, scoring an amazing first goal and setting up the winner for David Bellion in Bordeaux's 2-1 south-west derby win over Toulouse. "If Kaka or Ronaldinho had scored that goal, it would be shown all around the world this week," said Canal Plus's commentator after the midfielder spun from two defenders with a backheel before smashing the ball past Cédric Carrasso. "I had two options, either to pass sideways or backwards but then I saw another solution that the defenders didn't think I could pull off," said Gourcuff. "It was all about instinct."

The Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said, "If he carries on like that, he'll be coming back to Milan," but the Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud has other ideas. "We have an option to buy him and it's very clear: if we sign the cheque, he's our player." The buy-out clause is reported to be €12m, but already Gourcuff is worth much more than that. Bordeaux are not normally big spenders, but they can't afford not to buy him.

An outcry normally follows when French players leave Ligue 1 at a young age, but there is a feeling that Gourcuff, who was 19 when he moved to Milan from Rennes, has benefited from his time at Milanello. "We wanted a player who was used to the big time, and we took Yoann because even though he didn't play much Champions League football with Milan, he gained lots of experience from being surrounded by quality players," said the Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc.

Gourcuff is now flourishing in Blanc's 4-2-3-1 system – which mirrors how Les Bleus play – and Bordeaux are up to joint-third as their dismal August becomes a distant memory. Zidane also burst onto the scene at Bordeaux and the pair have similar on-pitch postures and shooting styles. "Don't put too much pressure on the guy and don't ask him to be the new anybody," warned Zidane. "We can all see he's very talented."

Bordeaux's win closed the gap on Lyon, who twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Claude Puel's former side Lille. Dropping their first points at home this season was not how Jean-Michel Aulas wanted to end his 1,000th match in charge, but the president has other concerns: among them Fred, who started ahead of Karim Benzema but was booed by the supporters. "These people are not real fans, jeering me is not going to help, and that's why I think I will leave in June." The problem for Aulas, who hates players leaving Lyon for nothing, is that Fred cost €15m and his contract is up next summer.

Another Brazilian, Michel Bastos, is threatening to take Juninho's crown as Ligue 1's free-kick specialist. The Lille midfielder scored his third dead-ball effort of the season against Lyon. "When I first arrived at Lille I wasn't playing very well, but the boss [who was then Puel] did not lose faith in me. I owe it all to him," he said after the game, which may or may not have helped Puel's mood.

Just a point behind Lyon now are Marseille, who extended their unbeaten run away from home to 13 games after a 3-1 win at Valenciennes. L'OM are the one unbeaten side left in France, and have only been trailing in matches for six minutes all season. The work of their new fitness coach Philippe Manouvrier appears to have made a difference. Former players under the coach Eric Gerets have told how he used to hang under-performing players on dressing-room pegs and kick in doors after defeat, but the Belgian cuts a cooler character these days. He even recently featured on 30 Millions D'Amis, a Me And My Pet-style show, where his Great Dane, Georges, was featured lying under his desk at L'OM's Comanderie training-ground. "Georges is like my son, he comes to work with me and sometimes he joins in training with the players," said Gerets. The dog was a gift from the Galatsaray president Ozhan Canaydin after Gerets led them to the title, but caused problems as his white-and-black coat reflected the kit of rivals Besiktas.

It's a big week for Gerets, who this week returns to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League, where he won six league titles and the European Cup as a player and two titles as a coach. "The best thing is to win the league title, it's so much more gratifying even than winning the European Cup," he said. "So long as there are no unforeseen accidents, I think we will be up there at the end of the season."

The same cannot be said of Paris Saint-Germain, who remain in mid-table despite twice coming from behind to beat their bogey-side Lorient 3-2 in a match that their under-pressure coach Paul Le Guen needed to win. The coach has fallen out with the owner Charles Villeneuve over transfer dealings: Le Guen wanted Jimmy Briand, Villeneuve bought the higher-profile Mateja Kezman, whose only success has been to beat Ivan Klasnic and Freddy Adu to France Football's No1 transfer flop of the season. Didier Deschamps is just the type of big-name coach Villeneuve wants to replace Le Guen, and if results in the coming week against Schalke and Marseille go against him, there may be a change at the club.

Elsewhere, Nantes beat Saint-Etienne 1-0 for their second win in a row under Elie Baup and are climbing to a position of safety while Le Mans, the best away team in the league, beat Nancy 2-0 at home (helped by a cracking own goal from Pascal Bérenguer) to move up to third place. Steve Savidan scored again for Caen in a 2-2 draw with Grenoble. Nice won 2-1 at struggling Monaco and next week they welcome Bordeaux to the Stade du Ray. With Gourcuff in his current form, it could be anything but nice for them.